App

The assumption that you need to strap something onto your wrist in order to accurately gauge your fitness level might not be accurate. Your favorite wearable might not be, either — or at least any more accurate at detecting steps taken than your phone. A new study claims apps are just as good at monitoring your activity level than some of the top wearables on the market. The University of Pennsylvania tested apps and wearables in a controlled environment, and the results are pretty interesting.

Google may have just recently "graduated" Project Tango from its incubation at its ATAP arm, but the future of research-oriented tablet and phone still hangs in the balance. In the meantime, however, developers and researchers are still tinkering with the few devices that are already out in the wild. But what exactly can one do with Tango's 3D sensing capabilities? Well, apparently, you can use it to draw in full 3D space, like what this new Space Sketchr app tries to demonstrate.

Snapchat is often a litany of updates and issues, and that pattern has repeated itself with this latest update. If you've recently updated the app, and have also noticed your data usage has skyrocketed, the two might be related, at least if reports from other users prove to be a trend. Following the update released in late January, users have started noticing that Snapchat is using quite a bit of background data, enough to deplete some users' monthly data allotment in a week or two.

Your pictures should tell a story, or at least that’s how Prezi feels. the company best known for making a visually stunning Powerpoint alternative now has their own photography app for iOS, which stitches your photos together along with custom graphics and text to tell a mini story. The aim is events and gatherings, where you can quickly cobble together moments, and share them as a tiny video representation of your day (or night). The app is currently available on the App Store, and is free to download and use.

Maybe because they’re trying to get in on the Etsy racket, or maybe just because they can; either way, Facebook is now making it much easier to sell things via Groups. Today, the social giant is announcing a new feature for Groups, which will allow users to sell items in a more streamlined way, with posts that are more easily manageable and professional looking. The feature was spotted previously, with Facebook saying they were trialing it for some groups who were noticed to have been actively selling anyway.

Back in 2013, Yelp partnered with Eat24 on what seemed like a service for the really lazy. Since then, food ordering and delivery via an app has blossomed, with apps like GrubHub joining in on the food delivery fun. With that, Yelp is announcing they want you to keep your pants off (that will make sense soon, I promise), and have acquired Eat24. The deal is worth $134 million in cash and stock, but it’s not clear if Yelp will work Eat24 into their existing platform, or operate it separately.

What would you do if your $6 mobile app gets pirated a lot? And by a lot, we mean 85 percent of the installed user base? Some might have called it quits and yanked off their app. Others might have tried to enforce even stricter piracy countermeasures. But not Android app developer Jack Underwood, whose popular Today Calendar app is experiencing those numbers. Instead, he is "punishing" pirates by making them walk the plank into shark-infested waters. Well, not really. He's just filling up their calendars with a lot of pirate-themed events.

If you're given an ad spot in the music industry's biggest award night, you will most likely link it to some musical product. But if your business isn't directly related to that, then you'll have to settle for the next best thing: apps. That is exactly what Apple has done with its latest video targeted at the Grammy's audience. But if you think it is flaunting the latest iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus, think again. It is the iPad that is taking center stage and Apple is showing off how it can be turned into a professional music studio.

Earlier today, something caught my attention. In a report on why the iPad might see a sales dip in 2015, an analyst cleverly shouldered Developers with blame for the iPad’s decline. Specifically, he claimed there weren’t enough good apps to compel potential customers to want an iPad. Is that true? Is the iPad in decline because Developers don’t create solid iPad experiences? Apple has created new foundations for iOS development, but are things like Metal and Swift proactive, or reactive? The answer: it’s complicated.

Remember Timely? If you were using Google+ when it came out, you probably remember your feed being polluted with shares of the app’s link, which was an easy way to get in-app stuff. After its meteoric rise (which was really strange, since it’s really just an alarm clock app) Google purchased Bitspin, the studio behind Timely, and immediately made all the in-app content free. Since then, Bitspin (or maybe Google) has done little with the app, but an update today brings it full circle to Lollipop.